As many graduates of four-year colleges watch their debt accumulate and some of their job opportunities dwindle, more and more vocational schools are trying to get the word out to high school students that there may be a better alternative. Mike Rowe, host of the TV show “Dirty Jobs,” has …
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Bob Schrock missed the war in Europe, and when he ended up in the Philippines, the war in the Pacific Theatre of Operations was over, too. Shortly after graduating from …
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Southwest Florida weather is nothing if not consistent lately. According to the National Weather Service, showers and thunderstorms are expected on a daily basis this week with temperatures reaching as …
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When Mike Haymans moved to Punta Gorda as a first- grader with his family in 1960, only 12,000 people lived in all of Charlotte County and less than 200 in North Port. In Charlotte, that amounted to only 14 people per …
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Joann Dillon stood in pouring rain and heat Tuesday, singing the “Star Spangled Banner” with thousands of President Trump supporters. “It was so emotional,” said Dillon, an executive assistant for the Charlotte County Commission. Dillon and husband Bobby were engulfed …
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It started with a prayer to “keep our politicians honest.” On Wednesday night at the Charlotte County Cultural Center, the Charlotte County Curmudgeon Club invited the community to a “Meet the Candidates” forum. Attending candidates were Stephen R. Deutsch, Joan …
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A sick manatee that was removed from Lemon Bay has died, officials at SeaWorld in Orlando said Thursday. The manatee was lying immobile on a sandbar Wednesday when Cpl. Brad Stender saw it. Stender is a marine deputy for the …
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A sick manatee that was removed from Lemon Bay has died, officials at SeaWorld in Orlando said Thursday. The manatee was lying immobile on a sandbar Wednesday when Cpl. Brad Stender saw it. Stender is a marine deputy for the …
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ENGLEWOOD — Manasota Key may have seen a “very, very slight” reprieve from toxic red tide early Thursday morning. The operative words are “very, very slight.” “There’s no smell, no smell at all,” Mark Timchula posted a video on his …
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ENGLEWOOD — Manasota Key may have seen a “very, very slight” reprieve from toxic red tide early Thursday morning. The operative words are “very, very slight.” “There’s no smell, no smell at all,” Mark Timchula posted a video on his …
Find out how to read more online.

It started with a prayer to “keep our politicians honest.” On Wednesday night at the Charlotte County Cultural Center, the Charlotte County Curmudgeon Club invited the community to a “Meet the Candidates” forum. Attending candidates were Stephen R. Deutsch, Joan …
Find out how to read more online.

Having seen its population double in each decade of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Charlotte County isn’t new to exponential growth. This time, however, a combination of political, economic and demographic factors seem to have reached a critical mass, according …
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The feedback has been positive since the Englewood Board of Realtors announced its intended merger with the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port board. Once it’s formally approved among the Englewood Area Board of Realtors, its 800-members will join forced with the …
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ENGLEWOOD — A manatee stricken by red tide was clinging to life on a sandbar Wednesday morning, when a deputy and a local boater came to its rescue. Cpl. Brad Stender, a marine deputy with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office, …
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While the kids and school staff recuperated this summer, police worked to keep them safer when school convenes on Aug. 13. DeSoto sheriff’s deputies in summer sessions rehearsed responses in possibly violent situations. Which included school assaults such as the …
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SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Low levels of cancer-causing chemicals have been found in three wells of a Florida town. Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker said Wednesday that the chemicals are similar to ones used in fire extinguishing foams, …
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TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Two Florida police officers were injured when a patrol car hit a tree while responding to an emergency call. Tampa police said in a news release that the crash happened late Wednesday in Tampa. Police said …
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DUCK KEY, Fla. (AP) — Nearly a year after Hurricane Irma wiped out a portion of the Florida Keys, a landmark resort plans to reopen in time for Labor Day Weekend. The Miami Herald reports Hawks Cay Resort on Duck …
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MIAMI (AP) — A manatee famous for traveling as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, has died after being hit by a boat back home in the Florida Keys. The Save the Manatee Club announced the death of Ilya in …
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OKALOOSA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in the Florida Panhandle are investigating the apparent drowning of a 19-year-old woman from Mississippi. Okaloosa County Sheriff’s officials said in a news release that Sara Sebren of Pearl, Mississippi, was swimming with friends …
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LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff’s officials in Florida say a vehicle struck and killed a woman on a scooter and a second vehicle hit an active-duty member of the U.S. Army who stopped to help. Both drivers left the scene …
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CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Florida prosecutors say they have the case of a white man who shot an unarmed black man during a parking lot dispute, and will determine whether to bring charges. The Pinellas County State Attorney said Thursday …
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NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — A real estate research firm has picked a neighborhood in southwest Florida as the “best neighborhood” in the United States based on schools, crime and other factors. ATTOM Data Solutions said Thursday that the Pine Ridge …
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QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador says the United States is sending weapons and military equipment to bolster security in a further sign that frosty relations between the two nations are thawing. Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin spoke Thursday in Quito, saying …
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MOSCOW (AP) — Investigators found no apparent signs of torture on the bodies of three Russian journalists who were killed in Central African Republic this week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The journalists were in the country investigating a Russian …
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BEIRUT (AP) — U.N. peacekeepers returned Thursday for the first time in years to the frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, conducting joint patrols with Russian military police in a reflection of Moscow’s deepening role in mediating between …
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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa won election Friday with just over 50 percent of the ballots as the ruling party maintained control of the government in the first vote since the fall of longtime leader Robert Mugabe. …
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MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin man was preparing for additional surgeries after having part of his legs and forearms amputated because of a dog lick that led to a rare blood infection, his wife said Thursday. Greg Manteufel, 48, has …
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Two of the first states to broadly legalize marijuana took different approaches to regulation that left Oregon with a vast oversupply and Colorado with a well-balanced market. But in both states pot prices have plummeted. An …
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RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Federal authorities in South Dakota say 19 defendants have been sentenced following an undercover investigation into the illegal trafficking of body parts from eagles and other protected birds. U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons’ office said Thursday …
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Gathering strength for a brutal trade war with China, the United States appears to be trying to patch things up with its friends. U.S. and Mexican negotiators are meeting in Washington Thursday and Friday to work on …
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Paul Manafort’s bookkeeper testified Thursday that the former Trump campaign chairman kept her in the dark about the foreign bank accounts he was using to buy millions in luxury items and personal expenses. But he otherwise …
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing safety, the Trump administration on Thursday proposed rolling back car-mileage standards, backing away from years of government efforts to cut Americans’ trips to the gas station and reduce unhealthy, climate-changing tailpipe emissions. If the proposed rule …
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DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — A 911 call at a sprawling Air Force base on Thursday sent armored vehicles and unmarked police cars rushing to a medical center where people hid behind locked doors until authorities determined there was no threat. …
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NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday as Apple led a rally in technology companies and reached $1 trillion in value. Consumer products and health care companies rose as second-quarter results from corporate America continued to surpass investors’ expectations. …
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Archives and Records Administration said Thursday it won’t be able to finish reviewing nearly 1 million documents regarding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s time in the George W. Bush White House until the end of …
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Responding to wide-ranging criticism that it lacked a clear national strategy to protect U.S. elections, the Trump administration put on a show of force Thursday and said the president had directed a “vast, government-wide effort” to safeguard …
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WASHINGTON (AP) — In negotiations over a possible interview by prosecutors, special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has offered the White House format changes, perhaps willing to limit some questions asked of President Donald Trump or accept some answers in writing, …
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is the world’s first publicly traded company to be valued at $1 trillion, the financial fruit of stylish technology that has redefined what we expect from our gadgets. The milestone reached Thursday marks the latest …
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has decreed that the death penalty is “inadmissible” under all circumstances and the Catholic Church should campaign to abolish it, a change in church teaching that could influence Catholic politicians and judges in the …
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HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. military is beginning the painstaking process of analyzing remains from the Korean War now that they are back on American soil after having been handed over by North Korea last week. Vice President Mike Pence …
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